LAHORE, Oct 13: The rhetorical response by the government to a report released by the New York-based Human Rights Watch on the fourth anniversary of the military coup that brought Gen Musharraf to power illustrates the nature of the state in the country today.

This was stated by HRCP secretary-general Hina Jilani in a statement on Monday. “It is significant too that the official spokesman has chosen to defend Gen Musharraf rather than the so-called democratic government that holds power. This alone indicates where the real locus of power lies.”

The statement said: “More significantly, rather than responding to the charges of harassment of politicians and journalists by agencies, expanded sectarian violence, subordination of elected government to the military and the growing influence of extremist religious elements whose activities have impinged on the rights of women and minorities, the government has chosen to use cliches and rhetoric while making unfounded claims of respecting human rights.”

It said the HRCP would like to assert, while sharing many of the concerns voiced by the Human Rights Watch, that this failure to acknowledge abuses in the country was a key reason for the increasingly brazen manner in which such violations were carried out.

“HRCP, and many other organizations, have over the past years received multiple reports of excesses by state agents, including military men. The continued failure to bring to account members of agencies guilty of harassing politicians, newsmen or activists, goes a long way to explain why more and more such incidents are coming to light. In cases where the state is not directly involved, it still bears responsibility for holding perpetrators accountable, which it has dismally failed to do. This failure, in fact, makes the state a party to such crimes and contributes to the increase in violation of the rights of many sectors of civil society.”

The statement said: “HRCP remains deeply concerned about the failure by the present government to improve its human rights record. No change for the better will be seen as long as the tendency to deny the very existence of rights violations continues. It is only when problems are accepted that an effort can be made to resolve them. So far, the undemocratic setup in the country, dominated by the military, is showing no indication it has learnt such lessons from the past or that it is willing to show greater concern for the rights of citizens in future. This in the longer run will place human rights under still greater jeopardy in the months ahead.”